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Team Toyota pro Terry Scroggins looks to battle cold morning temperatures on Lake Murray this week. 

 

With millions in earnings over his storied career, Team Toyota pro Terry Scroggins is looking forward to a slugfest at Lake Murray this week. While the Florida pro is most comfortable flipping and pitching shallow vegetation, the rapidly warming water temperatures have him thinking about several different strategies. 

 

“I think this is going to be a mainly pre-spawn deal, to be honest,” Scroggins said. “There are a bunch of fish pulling up shallow right now. At the start of practice, the water temperature was 49 degrees but the last I saw it was 56 degrees. That is a huge change when you think about the behavior of a largemouth bass. It has been super cold throughout the mornings, but I think once that water warms up in the afternoon, the bite is going to go crazy.”

 

Lake Murray has been recently known as a big-bass factory. Its propensity for big bass comes in a variety of ways and the local weights have been extremely impressive. 20-plus bags for a five-fish limit are a normal thing on Lake Murray and it has Scroggins excited for what may be to come. 

 

“It just seems like they always bite here,” Scroggins said. “They just bite all the time. Whether they’re shallow or deep, they live here. With the weather getting right and everything getting warmer, I’d bet you my bottom dollar that the fish will be chomping. Whether you like to beat the bank or chase offshore fish, I truly believe everyone will have a chance to catch ‘em doing what they like to do most.” 

 

The bottom-end of the fishery tends to hold the most vegetation right now. While you might think a Florida-based angler like Scroggins would be most comfortable fishing shallow grass, he is keeping an open mind, and all options are fair game. 

 

“This event could be won in a variety of ways,” Scroggins said. “You could crank, throw a topwater plug or pitch grass and it wouldn’t surprise me whatsoever. The world is waking up and it just seems like the bass are biting just about anything you throw at ‘em. Those cold mornings are a little bit of a booger but once the sun warms up that water, you’re good as gold and everything seems to start getting active.”

 

The Team Toyota pro has had a mixed practice which means several different strategies have produced bites and coming off his solid Harris Chain performance, he is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming event. 

 

“This lake is really good,” Scroggins said. “And I mean that. This is a super-good fishery, and the bass are really getting right with the springtime feel in the air. But the biggest key is going to be figuring out quality from quantity. There are a lot of small buck bass up there right now but as you know, we’re not in the business of that. I have to find the big females. There will be some giants biting somewhere.”

 

This is, or can be, a magical time of year. Big females that have been deep all year are moving shallow to do their yearly duty and you can bet that Scroggins will be waiting to intercept them.